UNISON NDC 09 - Housing Debate

I'm still trying to finish off reports about conference. This was a speech on Composite E on the future of public Housing that I also “bumped off”. Interestingly two former tenants from my estate did speak on the debate and there was a current tenant also listening as a delegate (that I know of).

“Conference, we all know that there is a overcrowding crisis in Britain. I myself work I in a large housing estate in East London where it is not uncommon for families to try and bring up several kids in 2 bed high rise flats. So what should we do about it?

Well, in my branch we have experienced and highly qualified specialist development staff who are being laid off because in many areas there is simply no new housing development taking place. At the same time planners are being made redundant in Town Halls.

At the same time we see builders walking off existing sites and laying off their own people. There is practically no new housing development taking place in either the public or private sector. At the same time we land prices at a all time historic low.

At the time same time we have millions of people on local authority waiting lists – a figure estimated soon to reach 5 million.

At the same time we are in the midst of a economic recession and we are being told that the best way out of it is to encourage people to spend, to restore confidence, to pump money into the local economy.

Conference you often nowadays hear the expression “Win, win”. Well, this composite is “win, win”. Let us start a mass housing building programme across the country. Get my members doing what they do best – building homes – get construction workers back on site; get their wages recycled into the local economy helping others into work; and best of all conference get people off waiting lists into real homes we can proud of - Conference. Please support this motion